The project
Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum announced during a Sept. 24 City Council meeting that the Westridge & Braes Terrace drainage improvements project is slated to start in late October to early November.
The drainage project will include the installation of a 120-inch stormwater pipe to realign the neighborhood’s existing drainage system, Castex-Tatum said. The stormwater pipe will improve stormwater flow during heavy rain, helping reduce the risk of neighborhood flooding, according to the project website.
The project will consist of five phases, and is expected to be completed in fall 2026, Castex-Tatum said. The drainage project will cost $5.4 million, with Vortex Lining Systems working on the project, according to an April 15 City Council agenda item.
The neighborhood’s organization, Westridge Civic Association, said in a Sept. 25 statement that the project has been "continuously delayed for years” and they are pleased to hear of the latest revised start date.
“Westridge has been waiting for new streets, safe sidewalks and adequate lighting since Mayor Annise Parker’s administration, and we will not be satisfied until the final phase of the work is complete and our neighbors can enjoy infrastructure on par with our adjacent communities,” a representative of the association said.
How we got here
According to previous Community Impact reporting, when Rebuild Houston was launched in 2010 as a way to prioritize capital projects in the city, Westridge and the nearby Braes Terrace were both included on the city's "worst first" list, as were other neighborhoods in the area, such as Woodside, Linkwood and Knollwood Village.
Earlier iterations of the drainage project, dating back to 2013, would have involved building a new drainage system under each street within the neighborhood. Because of that, streets throughout Westridge would have also been repaired, and the cost of building new streets was included in the project estimates.
However, when new rainfall data was incorporated into the drainage analysis after Harvey, Houston Public Works officials said the building under the street no longer provided enough drainage benefits to justify the cost of the work.
The project was changed to target the sewer line between Timberside Drive and Bevlyn Drive, and no longer involved any street improvements at all. This prompted an outcry from residents over the removal of street improvements, prompting HPW officials to bring the street improvements back into the project.
The bottom line
Westridge residents previously told Community Impact that infrastructure in the neighborhood has been poor, with potholes and dangerous street conditions that are difficult for residents to walk on.
In January, Castex-Tatum and representatives with HPW said the drainage project was expected to begin this summer. However, Mary Benton, the chief of communications and senior advisor at the mayor’s office, told Community Impact that the drainage project was pushed back to the fall because the construction contract was awarded Aug. 27, while the notice to proceed was issued Sept. 24.
The street improvement project, which is divided into two phases, had initial plans to finish the design on Phase 1 by this fall, with construction to begin in spring 2026. Phase 2 was set to begin design in summer 2026 and finish in summer 2027, with construction to begin in spring 2028.
Benton said the current plan is for Phase 1 to have its design done by early 2026, followed by a construction contract award for fall 2026. Design for Phase 2 is now scheduled to start in spring 2026, with construction planned for spring 2028.
